The 23-year-old Russian singer-songwriter puts a new spin on the classics with a steamy music video.

Up-and-coming musician Anastasia Luna was just six years old when she began studying music. A native Russian, she was classically trained to sing, raised by an opera singer for a father and a mother who owns a theatre. “I’m from a very theatrical family,” Anastasia laughs. “I started writing music when I was probably 13, or 14, but I never really understood my style and what I like until I came to New York and started breaking and doing hip-hop.”

At the end of her teen years, she moved to New York City, hoping to make it big as an artist. She found herself fresh on the break dancing scene thanks to the advice of a friend and break dance teacher, with whom she began taking classes. “The first time I saw it, I fell in love with it right away. Then she showed me all the practices in New York because breaking—it’s a street dance, so you can’t learn it at school; you have to go outside and see people, and see people breaking in the neighbourhood.”

That style of breaking encouraged Anastasia to incorporate breakbeats into her music and land in the hands of producer Tony Lewis. She lovingly refers to her genre as “2012 James Brown” but adds, “I don’t want to sound like James Brown or Michael Jackson because people just aren’t going to listen to it—it’s not popular right now. So that’s why I use hip-hop. I use some rap in my music.”

Her music video for “Heart Jump” features a confident, sassy and energetic Anastasia showcasing her break dance skills mixed in with more classic forms of dance, that stunning, classical-like voice and a hot-and-heavy scene between her and another woman—something that Anastasia feels is authentic and bold. “At the very beginning, I didn’t want to come out as a lesbian artist, ‘cause you know, people start with, “Oh my God, there are two girls, and they’re kissing or they’re almost kissing…” and people kind of forget about the whole music thing, the dance thing.”

The twenty-three-year-old’s producer ultimately encouraged her to be true to herself. “He was like, “You’re the real deal. So why not go full out? And the whole LGBT community will be grateful to you for not being afraid and being who you are. People that like you will support you.”

Anastasia’s modern twist on the classics has inspired her to work hard. She says she’s always recording new material. With three songs under her belt, she’s also on the verge of making her second music video in the next few months, a video that will epitomize the great R&B ballad. The vigour in Anastasia is infectious, but she knows firsthand how much devotion goes into breaking into the biz.

“Like my voice teacher always tells me: your work is never done. You can never come home and say, “OK, I’m done for the day,” because there is always a song to write and a dance to do. So if you choose to be an artist, whether a musician or a dancer or whatever it is, it’s hard work and dedication. I’m just really thankful.”